Mobile devices such as laptop computers, smartphones, and tablets are often paired or associated with complementary accessory devices such as, for example, smartwatches or other wearable accessory devices. The accessory devices work with the mobile devices to provide users with increased utility by, for example, allowing the user to view information on the accessory device instead of having to look at the mobile device, which may be in the user's pocket, briefcase, or purse.
As more users rely on accessory devices such as smartwatches, new software program applications, commonly referred to as “apps,” are being developed that take advantage of the different features provided by the mobile devices and the accessory devices. Such applications provide the user with many options in terms of what the user can view on the respective displays of the devices as well as how alerts (e.g. email, text messages, caller ID notifications) are delivered to the user.
In many systems, the mobile device is able to communicate with the accessory device over a wireless communications link. For example, Bluetooth is a common short-distance wireless protocol that allows smartphones to interact with related accessory devices such as smartwatches, hands-free systems in cars, home audio systems, etc.
As mobile devices and accessory devices continue to become more complex, additional options for enhancing the user experience are enabled. Therefore, it is desirable to provide techniques to allow configurable and flexible interactions between the devices in such systems such that the capabilities of the different devices can be efficiently utilized with minimal prompting by the user.